Let me just explain how the list was worked out. I have taken into consideration the following things: Acting ability; Star power; Critical acclaim; Box office performance in the past 12 months; Upcoming projects; Fan following.
So taking eveything into consideration, here is the list of the annual UBD Top 20 list for the Queen Of Bollywood.
#1 Kareena Kapoor
Bebo manages to hold off the competition for another year. She's been having a dream run the last few years with stellar performances (Jab We Met, Kurbaan, We Are Family) as well as blockbusters (3 Idiots, Bodyguard, Ra.One, Golmaal 3). She's got it all: critical acclaim, fan following, endorsements, BIG movies (Talaash, Heroine, SLB's next), and she's one actress who is here to stay.
#2 Vidya Balan
Vidya's last 12 months have been absolutely amazing, therefore she shoots right into the Top 3. Possibly the most talent of her generation. She picks her roles very well, and seems to score at the box office too. If she continues this way, we could see a new number soon. But she'll have to work very hard to topple Bebo.
#3 Priyanka Chopra
Piggy Chops slips a place, due to the failure of some movies, although she remains this high due to having 2 big hits recently (Don 2, Agneepath). She is set to have one of her best years yet with Krrish 3 in the pipeline and upcoming projects with Ranbir, Shahid as well as her music career. She's supposedly done a track with none other than David Guetta.
#4 Katrina Kaif
Although she has the biggest fan following, her acting abilities let her down, and she fails to crack the Top 3. She has improved immensely over the last few years, but she still has a long way to go. Her box-office appeal is undeniable and she is one of the most hard-working divas we have today. To rise to the top she needs to do more challenging work, and improve her diction and voice modulation.
#5 Rani Mukherji
I know it looks odd to have this legend below Katrina, but it's only because she's done such little work in the last few years. If she continues to churn them out, non doubt she can regain lost glory. She has two releases towards the end of the year to look forward to, which will no doubt propel her career upwards once again.
#6 Anushka Sharma
This young diva has shot ahead of her contemporaries in such a short space of time. Her performances are spellbinding. Her most recent stint in Ladies vs. Ricky Behl may have been a bit of a wasted opportunity but still, her potential is sky high, and I reckon she will be the next queen in a few years time. She's working on upcoming projects by Vishal Bhardwaj with Imran Khan and Yash Chopra's London Ishq with SRK.
#7 Kangna Ranaut
Kangu is in a class of her own. She continues to churn out amazing performances every year, but is let down slightly by some odd choices (No Problem, Rascals). I believe she is the only one who can give Anushka a run for her money in the future.Her upcoming movies don't seem too promising, but let's wait and see what she can bring to the table.
#8 Bipasha Basu
Who'd have thought this Bong Beauty would last 10 years+ and still be at the top of her game? Not many, but she has outlasted many of the girls that started with her a decade ago, and she's still showing the young ones how it's done (no names mentioned). Still one of the sexiest females of the industry, she's commanding impressive roles in her movies. This year we'll see her in the sequels: Raaz 3D, Race 2 and Ghayal Returns. Way to go Bips!
#9 Aishwarya Rai
The original Heroine. Even though she didn't have a release in 2011, she is still high on the charts due to her popularity and the fact that she won some awards early last year and was shooting for Madhur Bhandarkar's film. Her media presence has always been sky high since she first appeared on the scene in 1993. That's no mean feat. Her upcoming project is the Rajkumar Santoshi project Ladies And Gentleman.
#10 Asin
Another girl who showed great promise in her debut Hindi role: Ghajini (2008), Asin, originally from the South then went into hiding. She re-emerged in 2011 with a big fat blockbuster in the name of Ready. This year she has Housefull 2, Bol Bachchan and Wanted 2.
#11 Deepika Padukone
She started her career with a bang and instantly became the hot new girl on the block but after mid-2010 her star seems to be fading. This year she was seen blink-and-miss roles in Aarakshan and Desi Boyz. She still has a few happening projects in the pipeline so let's see how she does this year.
#12 Mahie Gill
Having recently been nominated in the Filmfare Best Actress category, her star status has shot through the roof. She is immensely talented as seen in Dev.D and Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster. And her recent movie Paan Singh Tomar has also done very well. She has been signed on to reprise her role in Dabangg 2 which is a sign of great things to come.
#13 Sonakshi Sinha
Only one film old yet she made such a gigantic impression, and with the lack of strong competition she has risen to the top half of the countdown already. Sinha has no less than 4 releases lined up this year including: Rowdy Rathore and Joker (both with Akshay Kumar), Lootera (with Ranveer Singh) and Son Of Sardar (with Ajay Devgan).
#14 Kalki Koechlin
She came out of nowhere in 2009, and swept the awards for her debut performance in Dev.D. She has gone on to star in many acclaimed films and continues to make a strong impact on the scene. Time will tell how far she goes.
#15 Genelia D'Souza
Having recently got married this young talented actress has given some memorable performances albeit in bad films. Out of the new lot she is the one that is using her potential the least. I hope she signs some good projects.
#16 Sonam Kapoor
She started with the brilliant performance in Saawariya (2007) and Delhi-6 (2009) and was great fun in the rom-coms I Hate Luv Storys and Aisha (2010) however this year has not been great. And the future doesn't look great either. If Players flops then she has to go back to the drawing board and do some serious soul searching
#17 Shahana Goswami
National Award winning starlet has wowed us with her performances in films like Rock On!! and Firaaq, she also outshone starlet Deepika Padukone in Break Ke Baad and made her presence felt in one of 2011's biggest hits Ra.One. Her upcoming movie is Heroine with Kareena Kapoor.
She stole the show in Desi Boyz. She has great screen presence and has shown a lot of promise. She started out in 2005 but hasn'tmade many movies. Let's hope she signs a few more. She will next be seen in an item number in Joker.
After initial success (2000-2002) followed by a series of flops she has been plotting a comeback. She is said to have no little than 6 releases in 2012: Race 2, Run Bhola Run (with Govinda) , Shortcut Romeo (with Neil Nitin Mukesh), Bhaiyyaji Superhit (with Sunny Deol), Power (with Ajay Devgan) and a few untitled projects directed by Priyadarshan and David Dhawan.
One-film old newcomer Parineeti is cousin of Priyanka Chopra. She was one of the highlights in Ladies Vs. Ricky Bahl. She done comedy very well, she danced very well in the song Jigar Da Tukda and who can for get her dialogue "I'm looking Red Hott". Her upcoming film Ishaqzaade will co-star Boney Kapoor's son Arjun Kapoor and is due for release in May 2012.
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